I had decided that when I was in Australia I would try to reinstigate my forgotten sailing skills and make them stick this time. Apparently the best place to do this is around the Whitsunday Islands. The base town for the Islands is Airlie Beach and this is where I headed to next. In Cairns I had researched about sailing and found an ideal course called Learn to Earn. The course involved 6 days intensive training resulting in being awarded an internationally recognised competent crew certificate, followed by 20 odd days working on charter boats sailing the Whitsundays. At the end of the course if you had a) passed reasonably and b) there was a position avaliable you would be given an interview and then a job. As I already had my working visa as part of my travel insurance it seemed an ideal way to pursue my favourite hobby and earn back some money that Australia had 'stolen' from my bank account.

I travelled down with Sam, where sadly we would depart paths. To celebrate our fun times together we decided to have a jug of sangria or two.... Therefore with a bit of a woozy morning start, I headed down with trepidation to meet my boat and skipper.

The training boat was aptly named 'Another Fiasco' and was a fractionally rigged 43 foot sloop, similar to a Farr 40. Clear as mud? It wasn't to me either but it soon would be! There were 5 other people on my course, 3 who were only doing the certificate and the other 2 going on to do the Learn to Earn course. Our skipper was the most amazing man called Matt, whose power of being able to watch 6 complete novices and sail through tough conditions was legendary.

The 6 days were intense work, every moment full of learning and cramming. Although I knew a bit about sailing such as which side was port and starboard, I was still foxed by all the terminology. Normal things in English, have an entirely illogical nautical word. There is in fact a whole sailing language, halyards, stays, runners, genoas, jibs etc etc etc. There were also certain maneouvers that we had to become supreme at; tacking and jibing and sometimes in strong positions. The days started about 7.00am and ended when we anchored for the night.

We did get some time off for good behaviour though, and was able to spend some hours on Whitehaven Beach - voted in the top 10 of the world's best beaches. You could see why. The sand is 90% sillicon and so fine it was like icing sugar. Apparently, it was used in making the Hubble Telescope it being the best sand for making glass. Back on board we got to see an abundance of wildlife including turtles and dolphins. Hump backed whales had also migrated here from the Antartic to breed. At first we we thought it was a large log in the water, until a water spurt proved different. Magnificant animals.

The course was great but intense. We had one night off in the 6 days but were so tired that all we could do was enjoy some great food. At the end of the course, whilst I felt more confident than when I had started I was glad we had the remaining days on the charter boats to practice. How foolish I was!

The 3 of us carrying on the course returned on the Saturday to get a roster for the remaining days. Opening it up our jaws dropped. We were to start the next day and would work solid for the remaining month. No days off and no time to process everything we had just learnt. Luckily, I had the latest start but Toby, the one person who had the biggest problem getting up in the morning, had the earliest start. He asked Cathy (the other LTE) and I if we would set alarms for him to make sure he was up in the morning. Cathy volunteered to do it for him and set her alarm for 6.15am so he could be ready for work at 7.15.

The alarm went off and Cathy rose to shake him awake. Toby sat up and seemed to be getting ready, allowing Cathy to head back to bed. Once she was tucked back in he promptly laid down and went back to sleep. She tried again at 6.30 and the process was repeated. I tried at 6.45 and got the response 'I'll go tomorrow' and that was the end of Toby's experience as a LTE. We never knew if he managed to ever start the second part of the course!!

Cathy and I both managed to make our boats on time and it began a period of heaven and hell. The company had not sold the course program to the skippers or crew, plus the behaviours of some LTE did not help. This meant that every trip we started (every 3 days or so) we would have to prove ourselves to each skipper and crew member. This varied depending on the person, for some it would mean volunteering to clear the toilets, others just generally trying to be as useful as possible. For my first skipper, it involved a swim. He had not spoken to me at all the first day and started to warm up as the trip went on. At the end however, I was clearing out an esky (ice box) when the lid fell off into the sea. The tender normally by the boat was out with passengers so the only option was to swim for it before the current took it away. So with no other choice I had to strip down to my underwear and dive in. It certainly gained his respect!

As a result of this, the course was tiring but when you did get acceptance and especially when the boat was sailing it was awesome fun. You certainly cannot beat sailing in one of the most beautiful places where white sands, turquoise seas and blue sky greets you.

The course encompassed two companies, Prosail and Southern Cross. The latter one I had not had a good trip with mainly because the crew had made no effort and had excluded me. When I talked to Cathy she had had similar experiences. When we were inland for a night together, we made sure there was plenty of wine to release all our feelings about the course.

At the end of the course, all the skippers at Prosail had recommended me and wanted me to work with them - which was an amazing feeling. Even though it was totally male dominated and to a degree sexist, it was great to know I had finally met their approval. Cathy was not looking for a job but got similar feedback. I spoke with the manager of Prosail and he said there would be work for me but probably not until September. As this was mid-August I decided that I would carry on travelling and then come back if it was still right.

Cathy and I decided therefore decided to celebrate our freedom and had a couple of days of pure laziness and bliss before I headed down to the Town of 1770 and she headed on to meet her parents who were visiting. We checked into a hotel room, so we did not have to share and enjoyed quite a few bottles of wine. It was the perfect end to the sailing course.

I envisaged travelling for a few weeks and then heading back but that was not to be.....